NEW YORK (AP) – “I float around,” says Josh Thomas, “and I’ve just been very lucky.”
The 27-year-old Australian comedian is trying to account for his success in what he’d argue is the absence of ambition or strategy.
Still, look at him: a star Down Under and the leading man, writer and executive producer of his own half-hour comedy-drama, “Please Like Me,” which begins a 10-episode sophomore season on the Pivot network on Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT.
A study in budding adulthood and its pitfalls, the series might be described as “Seinfeld” blended with a guy-centric “Girls.” Last season it followed Josh, a young Melbournite, as he loved and lost a girlfriend, then, acknowledging he’s gay, loved and lost a boyfriend. He came out to his divorced parents while coping with his father’s overbearing new wife and with his bipolar mother’s wild mood swings. But through it all, Josh kept his head above water. He’s a bloke who floats around.
Thomas has ample material from his own life to fuel his series, just as, a decade ago, it powered his entry into stand-up when he began showing up at Melbourne clubs for open-mic sessions.